VW Virtus test drive experience of a 2012 Tata Manza owner

The sedan's music system is quite good but I feel that the one in the Skoda Slavia with a subwoofer sounds much better.

BHPian isotope729 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Test drove the Virtus 1.0 AT yesterday afternoon. I wanted to TD the 1.0 MT but it wasn't available.

A few observations and my experience that's based on my current 2012 Tata Manza.

• The cherry red looks awesome in real life, I also liked the blue.
• The AT works buttery smooth in both bumper-to-bumper traffic and on open roads.
• I would have preferred wider ORVMs, they were a bit small for my liking.
• The driving ergonomics are perfect, no other words.
• Quick acceleration to close those traffic gaps is delightful. I manually changed gears a few times, and it was smooth.
• The boot opens and keeps hanging in the top position. I was hoping it would lock itself. You have to manually push it to the lock position.
• The fuel panel can be opened when the car is unlocked, just requires a small push to open it. There is no mechanism from inside the car to open it. I take it that one would have to be careful if the car is unlocked to ensure no one messes with the fuel filler.
• The Highline variant does not get a sunroof, and gets manual controls for the ACC. The Topline variant gets the sunroof and touch controls. I would have preferred manual controls as the touch controls require the driver to take their eyes off the road.
• The music system is quite good, the car has a rich sounding 8 speakers including 2 tweeters. The equalizer was set to manual. The thump on bass-heavy songs that I played was good but not overbearing. The Slavia with its subwoofer sounds much better. The difference was like the Sony bass-heavy headphones versus Sennheiser headphones. I don't know how the Slavia system without the subwoofer sounds though.

The SA was enthusiastic about showing off the car and its features. Their uniforms are smartly casual, and that created a relaxed atmosphere in the showroom. At least for me, it created a space for relaxed communication. For comparison, the Skoda showroom was more business-like. Nothing bad with either approach, but I preferred the VW approach. I'm getting the 1.0 MT test drive tomorrow, so will update with pictures. I couldn't get pictures yesterday.

Please excuse my language, no offence to anyone.

I feel that the Slavia is like a trophy girlfriend, there is a lot of attraction, some mystery (in a good way) since you don't know each other fully well, you want to spend as much time together as you can. You know someone will be jealous (how did he wind up with her?!). The Virtus, on the other hand, feels like a girlfriend of several years. You know she has the grace and maturity, there's a certain warmth that only she can bring, and gives you space to be on your own while you know she will always have your back. You know someone will remark "they make a great couple".

Here's what BHPian TechnoBloop had to say about the matter:

• Point number 6 - I guess that problem is only there with test drive cars. My relative in Kerala got his Virtus recently, the boot opens and locks at the top position, no wobbling. Checked one out myself in the showroom too!
• Point number 8 - Highline gets both Manual and Automatic AC option, as per the choice of the customer.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.